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Wednesday, 28 November 2012

Band submission. Nostrils (Ноздри in Russian) are a great punk/indie band from Ukraine. They put out one album before breaking up in 2011. With the new, leftover songs, one member (Nikita O.) decided to put them to use and recorded them for their second album. And I must say I'm quite glad he did. This is awesome! They cite their influences as being Hüsker Dü, The Wipers, Rites Of Spring, and Dinosaur Jr., so you know that they're worth your time. Really energetic, passionate, noisy, cathartic, but melodic, music. Check out both their albums on their Bandcamp, this is some really good stuff.

Punch (sometimes written as PUNCH) are a hardcore band from San Francisco, California that formed in 2007. The name practically sums up all there is needed to know. Pissed off, pulverising, and fucking passionate, both in what they say and how they play, without being preachy, corny, or taking themselves too seriously. Just amazing hardcore with elements of thrash and powerviolence. The vocals are high-pitched assaults (they are female-fronted) with lyrics touching upon topics such as feminism, veganism, straight edge, as well as personal subjects, among others. This band is blisteringly convulsive, and it's awesome. They are easily one of my favourite hardcore bands around now, and I'm sure quite a few people share in that sentiment. They've put out a demo, 2 EP's, 2 LP's, and a split (with Loma Prieta, who they share members with). They've appeared on a few compilations, but those songs are all also present on one of their records. Enjoy.

Friday, 16 November 2012

My Heart To Joy (formerly My Heart To Joy At The Same Tone, a line from Edgar Allan Poe's "Alone", which they used for their first two EP's) is a four-piece post-hardcore/emo band from Kensington, Connecticut that formed in 2006 and disbanded in 2011.

Beginning as a two-piece screamo band akin to Orchid, they soon added a third member to round off their line-up on their first release, Heavenly Bodies in 2007. The chaos that I assume was their sound when they began (I don't think any real recordings exist of it, only the band telling of it is what's documented) was a bit more defined on their first record, with vocals that for some reason remind me of Envy and the band hinting at melodic moments, especially "Can You Feel It, Captain Compost?!", which is most like their later material. The entire album is decent, though not quite what they would come to do later.

Virgin Sails was released in 2008, and shows a significant progression from Heavenly Bodies. The first two songs sound like Drive Like Jehu-meets-melodic hardcore or something like that, real good. The third, "All Of Life Is Coming Home" is where they really hit their essence. Jangly, melodic guitar, tight rhythm playing, and desperate vocals. It's like they've added Christie Front Drive to the mix, and now have fully established My Heart To Joy. This song would be re-recorded for their full-length which appeared the year after.

Seasons In Verse was released in 2009, and is their first and sole full-length album. It's also their best. The sound they began to touch upon on their last album is fully realized, and it is quite amazing. This is definitely one of my personal favourite records ever. I wouldn't even bother trying to describe it since it has to be experienced first-hand.

2011's Reasons To Be was the band's final release. It's three songs go in a fairly different direction than their previous effort, but then again all of their albums did to some extent. On this particular one the band is playing cleaner than ever, abandoning any strained vocals in favour of completely sung, melodic ones. The music itself is also toned down and doesn't sound like things could break at any second. They border on a pop-punk band here. It's still quite good, of course.

They also contributed two live tracks from their final show to Topshelf's Fuck Off All Nerds: A Benefit Compilation in Memory of Mitch Dubey. More information on that can be found here. You can hear and download it for free, but you really should donate something, or buy the record. For obvious reasons I'm not going to make it available on here.

As far as I know, they only put out four albums. They may also have had some exclusive tour tapes, according to their Last.fm, and if anyone anything about those I'd love to know. Members play in The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, End Of A Year/Self Defense Family, and Perfect Lines, according to a member of TWIABPAIANLATD (holy shit, I've never actually written that out before) on their Last.fm. Enjoy:

Monday, 12 November 2012

The Hated were a four-piece punk/emo band from Annapolis, Maryland who were active from 1985 to 1990. They are often regarded as an early "emo" band, and are often associated with contemporaries from the Washington, DC scene around that time such as Rites of Spring and Gray Matter, as well as bands from Annapolis such as Moss Icon. They certainly share certain aspects with those bands, such as merging of energetic, fast-paced punk with melodic sensibilities. The Hüsker Dü influence is also incredibly apparent.

During their five years as a band, they managed to explore many variations of their sound, most notably incorporating and adopting folk into their music. They were a great band, there's no other way to say it. Perhaps not as transcendent or influental as some of the ones previously mentioned, though still excellent in their own right. There isn't much information on them floating around the internet, so I don't know much about them. As far as I know, the only things missing in their discography are their cover of "I Am A Rock" (Simon and Garfunkel) which appeared on multiple releases and A Crabtowne Comp., a compilation tape of Annapolis-area bands, according to the always-reliable Wikipedia. There's some stuff here that doesn't appear on some of their discography lists (such as on Wiki and Last.fm), though judging by the sound I'm pretty sure it's them. I apologize for not having much information on some of these, they were found on various blogs and sources with just as much information. Apparently Troubleman United has had a discography LP in the works forever, but nothing's ever come out of it. Enjoy what's here now:

A Stubborn Reminder...

Please remember, not everything on here is supposed to be free. Enjoy to your heart's content, but if you can, please try and support these bands by purchasing records, going to shows, buying merch, anything if at all possible. Most of them could really use (and deserve) it.